KR0162988B1 - Internal voltage transfer circuit of semiconductor lsi apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides an internal voltage switching circuit of a semiconductor integrated device which generates an internal voltage by inputting an external power supply voltage, the reference voltage generating means for generating a reference voltage, and an internal reference for maintaining a constant internal voltage level by inputting a reference voltage. A level shifter means for generating a voltage, a differential amplification means for inputting an output voltage of an internal reference voltage and a current source means and amplifying the difference, and an internal voltage for independently driving an internal voltage corresponding to each internal circuit. And driver means. According to the present invention, the internal voltage of the same voltage level can be supplied to each internal circuit, and the chip can be stably operated by supplying the internal voltage having a constant voltage level regardless of the position of the internal circuit. .

Description

Internal Voltage Conversion Circuit of Semiconductor Integrated Devices

1 is an internal voltage conversion circuit according to the prior art.

2 is an internal voltage conversion circuit according to the present invention.

3 shows a waveform diagram according to FIGS. 1 and 2.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to semiconductor integrated devices, and more particularly, to an internal voltage conversion circuit for generating an internal voltage suitable for an internal circuit by inputting an external power supply voltage.

In general, the operating voltage used in the semiconductor integrated device is typically 3.3V or 5V, or other operating voltage may be used. Therefore, when manufacturing a semiconductor integrated device, independent processes and circuits must be designed to suit these operating voltages. For example, if the operation to be performed is the same, but the operating voltage is different, the process and circuit must be different, so the duplication of effort and time is required.

Therefore, in order to solve such a problem, after setting a process and a circuit suitable for a low power supply voltage, if the high power voltage is lowered to a constant voltage level using a predetermined voltage drop circuit under the high power voltage, this problem can be solved. The semiconductor integrated device includes an internal voltage conversion circuit for performing such a function, and uses an external power supply voltage input to the outside after the voltage drop as an internal voltage.

In particular, as semiconductor integrated devices become more integrated and larger in capacities, transistors included in internal circuits are gradually reduced in size, and in order to drive them properly, external power supply voltages must be converted into internal power supply voltages.

1 is a view showing an internal voltage conversion circuit according to the prior art. The internal voltage converting circuit shown in FIG. 1 is connected between an external power supply voltage VCC1 and a ground voltage GND, and is connected between a reference voltage generator 2 that generates a reference voltage Vref, and is connected between an external power supply voltage VCC1 and a ground voltage GND, and a reference voltage Vref. Level shifter 4 for generating an internal reference voltage IVCref to maintain a constant internal voltage level by inputting the input signal, and a current mirror differential amplifier 8 for amplifying the difference by inputting the internal reference voltage IVCref and the voltage VC. Doing. At this time, the voltage VC is a voltage set at the drain terminal of the current source PMOS transistor 18 connected to a source terminal connected to the external power supply voltage VCC1 and a gate terminal connected to the output of the differential amplifier 8. It becomes dependent.

The differential amplifier 8 has PMOS transistors 22 and 24 having a source terminal connected to the external power supply voltage VCC1 and a gate terminal connected in common, and a drain terminal connected to the drain terminals of the PMOS transistors 22 and 24, and the internal reference to the gate terminal. The NMOS transistors 26 and 28 for inputting the voltage IVCref and VC and the discharge NMOS transistor 30 connected between the source terminals of the NMOS transistors 26 and 28 and the ground voltage GND and whose gate terminals are connected to the external power supply voltage VCC1. Equipped. At this time, the gate terminal and the drain terminal of the PMOS transistor 24 are commonly connected.

The bipolar transistor 20 for internal voltage driver is configured such that the collector terminal is connected to the external power supply voltage VCC1, the base terminal is connected to the voltage VC, and the emitter terminal outputs the internal voltage IVC. The internal voltage IVC thus output is applied to each of the first to fourth internal circuits 10 to 16.

The differential amplifier 8 inputs the internal reference voltage IVCref and the voltage VC to compare and amplify the difference. For example, when the voltage level of the voltage VC is relatively lower than the voltage level of the internal reference voltage IVCref, the PMOS transistor 18 for current source is turned on greatly to increase the voltage level of the voltage VC, and the voltage level of the voltage VC is internal. When the voltage level of the reference voltage IVCref is relatively higher, the current source PMOS transistor 18 is turned off to lower the voltage level of the voltage VC. Thus, the node BCON can always maintain a constant value.

Since the base terminal of the internal voltage driver bipolar transistor 20 is connected to the node BCON which always maintains a constant voltage level, the voltage of the node NA is defined as V (NA) = V (BCON)-VBE, and the node NA is always constant voltage. To maintain the level.

However, in the internal voltage converting circuit shown in FIG. 1, the internal power supply lines are applied to the first internal circuits and the fourth internal circuits 10-16, which are individually located in various places in the chip, so that the internal power supply lines are provided with parasitic resistance values Ra and Rb. There is a problem that a voltage drop phenomenon occurs due to Rc and Rd.

That is, although the internal voltage IVC having a relatively desired voltage level can be input to the first internal circuit 10, the voltage level of the internal voltage drops while passing through the internal power supply line, so that the fourth internal circuit 16 returns to the first internal circuit 10. Since the same voltage level as the applied internal voltage IVC is not input, the chip operating characteristics are adversely affected.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an internal voltage conversion circuit capable of supplying internal voltages of the same voltage level to each internal circuit and a method of changing the same.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an internal voltage conversion circuit and a method for converting the same, which can stably operate the chip by supplying an internal voltage having a constant voltage level regardless of the position of the internal circuit.

An object of the present invention is to provide an internal voltage conversion circuit of a semiconductor integrated device for converting an external power supply voltage into an internal voltage and applying it to an internal circuit, comprising: a reference voltage generator for receiving an external power supply voltage and generating a reference voltage; A level shifter unit which receives a reference voltage and generates an internal reference voltage having a constant level as a target voltage of the circuit, receives the internal reference voltage output from the level shifter unit and the differentially amplified output voltage, and compares the level difference. A collector terminal is connected to an internal power supply line carrying the external power supply voltage to receive the differential amplifying unit and the output level of the differential amplifying unit, and to independently apply respective internal voltages required for the internal circuit, A base terminal is connected to the output voltage of the differential amplifier and an emitter terminal is connected to the internal circuit. A plurality of bipolar transistors which is achieved by providing the internal voltage converter circuit, characterized in that the internal voltage comprising a driver comprising one or more at least.

Hereinafter, the internal voltage conversion circuit according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. In the description of the present invention, the same reference numerals are used for the same elements as those of the internal voltage converting circuit of FIG. 1 according to the prior art, and the operation of each component is the same as the prior art.

In the internal voltage conversion circuit according to the present invention shown in FIG. 2, the operations of the reference voltage generator 2, the level shifter 4 and the differential amplifier 8 are substantially the same as those of the conventional technology shown in FIG. Since it is substantially the same, detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.

Meanwhile, the internal voltage converting circuit of FIG. 2 independently includes bipolar transistors 32, 34, 36, and 38 for the first to fourth drivers for the first to fourth internal circuits 10 to 16, respectively. At this time, the base terminal of the first driver bipolar transistor 32 is the node BCON3a, the second terminal of the bipolar transistor 34 is the node BCON3b, the third driver of the bipolar transistor 36 is the node BCON3c, the fourth driver is the bipolar transistor The base terminal of 38 is connected to the node BCON3d, respectively.

The internal voltage conversion circuit according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. In the internal voltage conversion path as shown in FIG. 1, it has already been explained that voltage drop occurs due to parasitic resistances Ra, Rb, Rc, and Rd of the internal power line. For example, if the total resistance value Ra + Rb + Rc + Rd of such a resistor is 2 Ω and a current of 500 mA flows, a voltage drop of about 1 V is induced at the node IVC1 as shown in FIG.

However, in the internal voltage conversion circuit according to the present invention shown in FIG. 2, the bipolar transistors 32, 34, 36, and 38 for the driver are independently distributed to correspond to the corresponding internal circuits 10, 12, 14, and 16, respectively. Therefore, the voltage drop of the internal voltage can be prevented. This is because the voltage of node IVC2 is set independently of the voltage of node VCC2, even if the current is consumed in the chip, so that, for example, the voltage level of node VCC2 falls, for example, the voltage V (IVC2) = V (BCON3d)-V (BE). do. Therefore, if only the voltage V (BCON3d) does not change, the node IVC2 can always maintain a constant voltage level. In this case, the current gain of the bipolar transistor is generally It can be expressed as. IE is the emitter current and IB is the base current. In other words, it can be seen that the voltage V (BCON3d) hardly changes in this equation. The same applies to the rest of the other bipolar transistors 32, 34 and 36.

As shown in FIG. 3, even if the voltage level of the node VCC2 of the internal power supply line drops, the voltage level of the node IVC2 input to the fourth internal circuit 16 is always constant. This has the same effect as having several power pads in a chip. In FIG. 3, the voltage Vdrop is the voltage difference between the external power supply voltage VCC1 and the node VCC2, and the voltage Vdiff is the voltage difference between the node IVC2 and the node IVC1. As shown, in the present invention, the voltage difference between the node VCC2 and the node IVC2 is much smaller than the voltage difference between the external power supply voltage VCC1 and the node IVC1 according to the prior art.

The power supply voltage converting circuit according to the present invention as described above shows the best embodiment of the present invention and can be variously implemented without departing from the scope of the spirit of the present invention. Those who have it will be easy to understand. For example, the internal circuit can adjust the number of internal circuits by any number by distributing the bipolar transistors as described above.

According to the present invention, an internal voltage having the same voltage level may be supplied to each internal circuit, and an internal voltage having a constant voltage level may be supplied regardless of the position of the internal circuit, thereby stably operating the chip. .

Claims (1)

An internal voltage conversion circuit of a semiconductor integrated device for converting an external power supply voltage into an internal voltage and applying the same to an internal circuit, comprising: a reference voltage generator for receiving an external power supply voltage and generating a reference voltage; A level shifter for generating an internal reference voltage of a level as a target voltage of the circuit; a differential amplifier for receiving an output voltage differentially amplified from the internal reference voltage output from the level shifter and comparing and amplifying the level difference; A collector terminal is connected to an internal power supply line carrying the external power supply voltage so as to receive an output level of the differential amplifier and independently apply respective internal voltages required for the internal circuit, and a base terminal of the differential amplifier A plurality of bipolars connected to a negative output voltage and having an emitter terminal connected to the internal circuit; And an internal voltage driver unit including at least one transistor.